RAREFIED REVELRY Bespoke indulgences for Naples' finest
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Bulgari’s 140-year gem-studded legacy 58
Avant-garde takes on feminine couture 66
WARDROBE WHIMSY
The red carpet return of the brooch
Automata delight with tinkered touches 74
LOCAL JEWELRY
A Provident diamond for the ages 80
BEAUTY
Regenerative treatments turn back time
Emin Kadi; Courtesy Emmanuel Tarpin, Bulgari
A maritime masterpiece for charter
E1’s RaceBirds speed past the competition 128 ESCAPES
Vacation destinations straight from the silver screen 140
GAME ROOM
A Florida designer’s game-changing billiards tables
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Brandt, Blueiprod, Black Tomato/Shanti Donato
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Cover Photography: Jan Welters/Trunk Archive
Beyond the chorus of claims to greatness in our era, distinction whispers in the details. For our fourth edition of Gordon Drive, we traversed the globe, seeking wonders suited to the refined sensibilities of Naples’ Port Royal denizens.
Consider Bulgari’s centennial-plus legacy: the brand’s artful integration of ancient Roman motifs into contemporary pieces reflects heritage deepening through innovation. Or Montblanc’s gem-studded High Artistry collections, where signing one’s name becomes a celebratory affair.
While winter light gilds our Gulf waters, we invite you to dream beyond the horizon. Perhaps you climb aboard the 400-foot Kismet, where a seasonal Neapolitan has opened his floating palace for charter—a nearly unprecedented move in the gigayacht realm. Or venture deeper still, into the domain of rare gems, where Naples’ Provident Jewelry guards a 100-carat Type IIa diamond standing in a class of its own.
Innovation commands our roads, too, with the category-defining Zenvo Aurora—a Danish hypercar with 1,850 horsepower revving to 9,800 rpm—arriving at Naples Motorsports. The local purveyor is one of five authorized dealers in North America—proof the rest of the world now recognizes what we’ve long known: the Gulf’s light illuminates life’s finest details with singular radiance.
Each discovery in these pages echoes the sophisticated lifestyle that flourishes in our coastal haven. As our paradise beckons a new season, allow these discoveries to spark your next great pursuit.
Stephanie GRANADA
Editor in Chief
David Graver serves as the editor-at-large for this edition of Gordon Drive He brings his expertise uncovering and curating best-in-class luxuries as editor-at-large of Cool Hunting and contributor to Vogue, Bloomberg, T Magazine and Vanity Fair For this issue, he explores the modern return of the brooch, Based Upon’s masterstroke piano and the exquisite art of writing with Montblanc.
Baroness Sheri de Borchgrave writes the Wine & Dine column for New York Cottages & Gardens. She’s also the author of the memoir A Dangerous Liaison, which delves into her marriage to a Belgian baron and life behind castle walls. In this issue, she ventures into historic Champagne maison Ruinart’s art-centric renovation.
Laurie Brookins is an awardwinning journalist covering fashion, watches and luxury for various outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter and Robb Report. With 35 years of experience, she enjoys exploring ateliers and the craftsmanship behind renowned brands. In this edition, she dives into Bulgari’s 140-year legacy and charts fashion’s new rules for dramatic feminine maximalism.
Ning Chao, a former beauty editor for major fashion publications, reports on luxury and wellness trends from Los Angeles, actively battling her sun damage archenemy. She’s known for her insights into luxury lifestyles and modern wellness practices. Here, she reports on the new wave of regenerative beauty products and treatments.
Alexandra Cheney is a luxury brand consultant and travel writer based in Los Angeles. Her work appears in the New York Times, Robb Report and Travel + Leisure, where she is recognized as an authority in automotive reporting. In this issue, she writes about Danish singular hypercar maker Zenvo and their release of the Aurora at Naples Motorworks.
Omar Cruz is a celebrated portrait photographer, having worked with personalities like Barack Obama and Christina Aguilera. For this issue, he captured Naples’ gentlemen of distinction, showcasing his eye for impactful photography. He also photographed our fashion feature and our piece on maximalist femininity.
Baroness SHERI DE BORCHGRAVE
Omar CRUZ
Alexandra CHENEY
Ning CHAO
Laurie BROOKINS
David GRAVER
New York-based design authority Dan Howarth, whose expertise shapes brand strategy for creative companies and appears in Architectural Digest and Dezeen, serves on international design juries and panels. Here, he reveals an extraordinary Italian furniture maker you need to know.
Emin Kadi is a fashion photographer and creative director from Detroit with Albanian roots. Having started his career as a model, he went on to study architecture and photography, and has had his work featured in publications like Vogue, Elle and Dwell. For this issue, Kadi photographed the extraordinary 100.08-carat gem from Naples’ Provident Jewelry.
Kevin Koenig is a journalist based in Greenwich, Connecticut. He is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal Magazine, Esquire, Robb Report and numerous marine publications worldwide. Twice recognized as the world’s top yacht critic by Boating Writers International, Koenig lends his expertise to our stories on the 400foot Kismet and next-gen E1 electric boat racing.
Jessica ‘JJ’ Owens’ love affair with horology began at age 12. A collector of timepieces with a love for mathematics and jewelry, she founded the Daily Grail to inspire young women to appreciate the sentimental aspects of luxury watches. Here, she reports on the genre-defining IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar, which accurately keeps time for 4,000 years.
Kristen Shirley is a New York-based luxury writer, contributing to Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, New York Times and ELLE. She recently founded La Patiala as a resource for all things luxury. Here, she reports on Boucheron’s new high-jewelry Cascade necklace and Provident Jewelry’s legacy 100.08-carat diamond ring.
Stephen Watson is a fashion stylist and freelance writer with a specialty in luxury timepieces. A former fashion director of Men’s Vogue, he currently serves as editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury’s Watches International and collaborates with Watches of Switzerland on industry trends. Here, he writes about the mechanical wonder and whimsy of automaton watches.
Kristen SHIRLEY
Jessica OWENS
Emin KADI
Kevin KOENIG
Stephen WATSON
Dan HOWARTH
Courtesy Images
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Courtesy Zenvo
1 BOUCHERON’S CASCADE NECKLACE
Boucheron’s experimental summer Carte Blanche releases never fail to impress. Their designs set a sensational standard, epitomized by this year’s Or Bleu collection. Creative director Claire Choisne looked to water in all its forms for inspiration, focusing on the dramatic icebergs, snowy landscapes and glittering seas of Iceland. One of the most striking pieces, the Cascade necklace, evokes a waterfall tumbling down steep Nordic cliffs, with six strands converging into a single row and descending the body toward the knees.
At 148 centimeters long, the versatile piece can be shaped into a shorter necklace, with detachable segments that turn into earrings. Artisans spent more than 3,000 hours creating this 1,816-diamond necklace. Each stone—cut and sized to exacting standards—was set with minimal, mesh-like metal to ensure light reaches the gems from myriad angles, unleashing endless brilliance.
ZENVO’S AURORA HYPERCAR
Mention a ‘6.6-liter quad-turbocharged V12 engine’ with ‘1,850-horsepower revving to 9,800 rpm,’ and gearheads might envision an Italian stallion or German rocket. They’d be wrong. Aurora, the sleek hypercar with the world’s most advanced V12, hails from Zenvo Automotive. The Danish automaker marries Scandinavian design with power and precision. “We aim to achieve the opposite of complex,” chief commercial officer Jens Sverdrup says. “Pure design means subtracting—weight, unnecessary parts—to create a driving experience unlike any other.”
Strategically placed voids (like the negative space between the wheels and body) enhance aerodynamics, while the in-house developed engine, gearbox and carbon wheels make Aurora a featherweight champion among hypercars. Choose between the grand touring Tur (0 to 62 mph in 2.3 seconds) or the track-focused Agil, with its 1,940 pounds of downforce at 155 mph. Both offer endless customization. Naples Motorsports is one of five North American Zenvo dealers, giving you direct access to Aurora models, each model made as one of 50 and priced at $2.8 million.
Courtesy Zenvo
DAVID GRAVER
3 BACCARAT’S MONUMENTAL VASE
Standing nearly 5 feet tall and weighing 600 pounds, Baccarat’s Monumental crystal vase heralds the historic French maison’s 260th anniversary. Imagined in partnership with intrepid Dutch designer Marcel Wanders, it is the pinnacle of the brand’s New Antique collection.
Baccarat’s 13 Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (artisans honored with the highest achievement for their craft) forged the towering masterpiece over six months. Alternating flat and bevel sides cast brilliance in every direction, parading the maison’s mastery with crystal. Monumental is limited to an edition of eight, with each piece priced at $400,000—a fitting tribute to the legacy of French savoir faire that continues to dazzle the world’s most discerning collectors.
BY JJ OWENS
4
IWC’S PORTUGIESER ETERNAL WATCH
From the Swiss IWC Schaffhausen—founded in 1868 and touting a 40-year legacy in perpetual calendars—the Portugieser Eternal Calendar incorporates a mechanical moon phase complication that remains accurate for a staggering 45 million years. This firstof-its-kind design emerged from simulations analyzing 22 trillion combinations of wheels. Even seasoned luxury watch writers at the industry apex Watches and Wonders Geneva fair, where the piece was presented in April, were awed by this horological paragon.
Whether timing Keewaydin boat days or waterfront soirees, this 44.4-millimeter beauty computes leap years and months with unmatched precision, yielding a mathematical marvel that, if kept in use, remains accurate until the year 3999. Despite its technical prowess, the piece looks airy thanks to the extensive use of glass, including a frosted dial and double-domed sapphire crystals. Imagine passing this timepiece through 79 generations—a testament to your family’s enduring legacy of eternal sophistication and success.
ROYAL HUISMAN’S SPECIAL ONE 5
Avid anglers usually have to choose: Pursue record billfish on a no-frills, utilitarian thoroughbred or cruise in superyacht splendor.
But the owner of Royal Huisman’s 171-foot Special One—the world’s largest sportfisher, debuted in early 2024—was unwilling to compromise on his vision: “On the one hand, it had to be luxurious; on the other, it had to be a true battlewagon,” says Jan Timmerman, CEO of the award-winning, Dutch shipyard that built the vessel.
Leveraging expertise in lightweight composites, Royal Huisman delivered a sharp-turning, 32-knot masterpiece. “Sportfishing led in every decision,” says Marnix Hoekstra, of the innovative Vripack, which handled the yacht’s design. Six decks culminate in a spotter’s nook 165 feet above the water, while the tournament-grade cockpit features advanced sonar, custom fighting chairs and specialized baitwells. Inside, walnut-clad interiors house a 300-bottle wine cellar and 150-plus Focal speakers for orchestra-level sound. “The owner even has a DJ booth on the foredeck for evening parties,” Hoekstra says. “He takes his music and fishing very seriously.”
Courtesy Royal Huisman
7 WONDERS BY
BRAD JAPHE
TEQUILA LEY .925’S DIAMANTE RELEASE
Having visited nearly 100 distilleries on dozens of trips to Mexico, I thought I had tasted it all. Then, I came across a jaw-dropping release of Tequila Ley .925’s Ley Diamante in the Jaliscan Highlands. Back in 2006, a sole bottle sold for $225,000, then the most expensive agave spirit in history. By the time I encountered the drink a decade later, the sheer rarity and exceptionality of the release had driven the asking price upward of $3.5 million, setting the existing Guinness World Record for the costliest bottle ever sold.
The earthy 84-proof extra añejo liquid is twice-distilled in copper before aging in French oak for seven years—elements rarely seen in tequila production. Brimming with notes of butterscotch, toasted brioche and a spectacularly protracted finish with spiced dark fruit, the tequila comes in an art-piece decanter. Forged of pure platinum and white gold, with a cap resembling the Aztec calendar and more than 4,000 diamonds (totaling 18.5 carats), Ley Diamante is a multimilliondollar testament to tequila’s rise to the zenith of collectible liquids.
Courtesy Tequila Ley .925
7
BASED UPON’S TWIST/D PIANO
Unveiled at Eye of the Collector this summer by London’s Based Upon design house, the Twist/D transcends the limits of instrument design, with a nearly 7-foot frame inspired by the Golden Spiral and a crystalline audio system capturing the soul of classical pianos through digital alchemy.
While preserving the tactile intimacy of a concert grand with meticulously calibrated responses, the musical sculpture offers 12 modeled soundscapes for performance and automated playback, each drawing from legendary Steinways and Bechsteins across epochs. The result: access to a dozen iconic pianos in one sleek, pétillant frame, with six drivers and a subwoofer. Brass dials adjust tuning, attack and reverb—the latter forged from samples recorded across the Isle of Skye’s windswept landscape. From clifftop expansiveness to cavedeep resonance, each setting transports your performance to a distinct acoustic environment.
The technology is made invisible beneath a hypnotic patina of Tramazite coating, a Based Upon invention resembling shallow seas at night. This instrument doesn’t merely occupy space—it commands it, a testament to innovation in perfect harmony with tradition.
Courtesy Based Upon
FORM
JEWELRY / STYLE / WHIMSY / WATCHES / BEAUTY
Courtesy Bulgari
BOLD AND UNABASHED, BULGARI REDEFINES
OPULENCE AS THE MAISON MARKS 140 YEARS
ETERNALLY STUNNING
Courtesy Bulgari
Honoring 140 years of gem-studded excellence, Bulgari’s recent Aeterna collection eternalizes icons like the 1948-debuted Serpenti emblem. The bulbous influence of the 1980s Chandra line comes through in the Aurea choker (previous spread, left) sculpted gold spheres dancing with diamond-paved waves.
Jean-Christophe Babin smiles when asked how Bulgari’s latest high jewelry collection might compare to all others that came before it. “The collection includes the most extraordinary jewelry necklace ever created,” says Babin, CEO of the iconic jeweler since 2013.
This year, Bulgari celebrated its 140th anniversary, commemorating the moment in 1884 when Sotirios Voulgaris, a Greek silversmith, changed his name to the more Italian-sounding Sotirio Bulgari and opened his first store on Rome’s Via Sistina. Ever since, the jeweler and the Eternal City have been inextricably linked. Bulgari has enjoyed ample high-wattage moments along the way, including the 1948 debut of its iconic Serpenti collection, featuring
gemstones and watches set upon the house’s signature tubogas technique of tightly wound gold strips forming a flexible, snakelike chain.
Now, the maison amplifies its prismatic, baroque DNA with the 150-piece Aeterna line. The brand’s largest and most lavish collection yet eternalizes Bulgari trademarks in magnum opus jewels, most cresting $1 million.
The brand’s relentless pursuit of exceptional stones and materials is evident in the Sapphire Brocade necklace, with stones requiring two years to source, and the Aeterna Wave’s 38.93-carat Sri Lankan sapphire, which can be detached and worn as a pendant. An ancient Roman coin (dating between 14 to 37 A.D.) depicting Augustus dangles from a sautoir with 149 identical emerald stones
Bulgari
Courtesy
PATRICk J. CARRIgAN, DMD JOSE M. HORAk, DMD
EDWARD A. SCHERDER, DMD, JD
ROBERT C. HEDgEPATH, DMD kATIE N. RODRIgUEz, DMD, MS kURTIS P. HUSSEY, DMD
Crowning Bulgari’s most lavish collection to date (150 pieces, most cresting $1 million) is the Aeterna Serpenti necklace: Seven D-flawless, pear-shaped diamonds, cut from a single 200-carat rough stone, cascade along a constellation of 698 baguettes totaling 140 historic carats.
Courtesy Bulgari
REFRACTIVE LASER CATARACT SURGERY
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ALL LASER LASIK
The Tubogas Flower of Time necklace distills the house’s legacy through its lavish cabochon stones, trademark tubogas chain technique, and a romantic floral etching on the anchoring 31.07 Zambian emerald.
weighing 615.04 carats. Meanwhile, the 160 carats on the Fenice secret timepiece honor Bulgari’s technical watchmaking prowess merged with aesthetic splendor.
Statement necklaces abound throughout Aeterna: The Terra Mater Serpenti highlights the jeweler’s signature tubular construction on a necklace fully embellished with diamonds and emeralds and finished with a pair of serpents entwined around a 63.86-carat Colombian emerald. The Aurea Chandra choker—a tribute to Bulgari’s porcelain-accented, 1980s Chandra line—comprises five rows of 18-karat rose gold spheres with alternating rows adorned with waves of diamonds. The carefully contoured spheres are hollowed and sculpted to sit smoothly against the skin. Teeming with hidden links, articulated
and invisible settings, and Bulgari’s signature cabochon cuts, each showpiece ultimately honors the handcrafted artistry Sotirio Bulgari envisioned 140 years ago.
The star of the collection is unquestionably the Aeterna Serpenti diamond necklace. Requiring 2,800 hours to complete, the piece starts with a sinuous platinum structure embellished with 698 baguette diamonds totaling 61.81 carats. Seven D-flawless, pear-shaped diamond drops—cut with infinite precision from a single rough stone of 200plus carats—line the necklace, immortalizing the house’s anniversary with 140 carats. The price? Just over $40 million.
What’s next for the maison? “In diamonds and precious gems, it’s never enough,” Babin says. “But it’s a very exciting game.”
Bulgari
Courtesy
BY LAURIE BROOKINS
THE NEW ROMANTICS
Fashion’s new maximalism rewrites the rules of feminine strength through audacious ruffles, architectural pleats and reimagined corsetry
PHOTOGRAPHY BY OMAR CRUZ
Model Julianne Steege wears a dress by Lena Erziak. Stylist: Veronica Porras. HMUA: Javier Martinez, Blumindinc.
Traditional pleating ascends to sculptural grandeur in spring’s dramatic silhouettes, where whispers of organza become bold declarations.
At first blush, equating ruffles and pleats with modernity and female empowerment might seem paradoxical. Fashion has spent a century exploring the ‘strong woman’ through a vernacular of menswear-inspired silhouettes. Now, designers are challenging the paradigm with spring 2025 collections that position traditionally feminine motifs as bold declarations of strength, romance and unrestrained self-expression.
At Prada, the designers transformed eyelet— historically the height of girlishness—into metallic grandeur, creating A-line skirts and dresses gleaming with an armor-like nobility. In his fourth
season helming Nina Ricci, Harris Reed continued their hot streak with gravity-defying panels of pleated organza fanning from strapless designs, ascending to create veils for an air of mystery.
Style cognoscenti already witnessed dramatic pleating emerge in Louis Vuitton’s cruise 2025 artful compositions, and now, several houses advance the concept for spring. Mugler celebrated its 50th by reimagining the label’s womanpower DNA through pleated pieces resembling calla lilies—creations as worthy of a museum as a runway.
Creative director Casey Cadwallader also revisited the late Thierry Mugler’s legendary corset
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work in form and detail—another historical homage rendered powerfully modern for 2025. New Yorkbased Jackson Wiederhoeft, whose eponymous label debuted in 2019, is making remarkable inroads from bridal into ready-to-wear and couture. The romantically rebellious corsetry in his spring collection promises to dominate the 2025 awards season. Schiaparelli also drew primary inspiration from the corset, celebrating hourglass silhouettes across everything from a precisely engineered denim dress that zips down the front to an ivory jersey showpiece seamlessly melding a corset midriff with luxe, asymmetrical draping.
Meanwhile, Alaïa elevated American sportswear to heroic proportions at its Guggenheim
Museum show in New York. Creative director Pieter Mulier’s body-enveloping jackets, crafted in frilly cascades of bias-cut ruffled fabric, create sublime kinetic energy with each step. At every turn, we see feminine codes reprogrammed with fearless detail. Among the defining moments in Rokh’s spring show: a cropped jacket adorned with ruffles sculpted to evoke lush red roses. The voluminous, high-neck silhouette against the model’s bare midriff articulates a femininity that feels decidedly current—powerful and utterly self-possessed.
With its perfect tension between structure and fluidity, coverage and revelation, the piece signals more than a seasonal shift—it crystallizes fashion’s new vocabulary of strength.
Model Johanna Chone wears a Gaurav Gupta dress; Patricia Robalino Designs earrings. Stylist: Veronica Porras. HMUA: Fiorella Viloria.
Ferrari II
Location: Amboy, California 2023
Bad Asses
Location: Kanaan Desert, Nambia -2024
The Girl with the Feathered Hat Location: Monument Valley, Utah - 2023
BEYOND THE LAPEL
SO LONG , quiet luxury— A MAGNETIC RENAISSANCE OF FANTASTICAL, HIGH JEWELRY BROOCHES IS SWEEPING THROUGH SOCIETY, REKINDLING THE desire for WEARABLE TREASURES
Piercing lapels across red carpets, runway shows and black-tie galas, the brooch has made a grand return to fashion. And why not? Few jewels allow for as much expression and elegant flair as an embellished pin. “Brooches don’t nestle themselves in the curve of your body; they are proudly displayed, facing out for the world to digest,” says Levi Higgs, head of archives and brand heritage at David Webb, whose pins have long been celebrated for their bold, animal-centric designs.
The fresh wave of high jewelry brooches exemplifies artistry and innovation, with marquee maisons and independent virtuosos pushing the boundaries of what a clasp can be. Look at 32-year-old French designer and sculptor Emmanuel Tarpin, who spent three years at Van Cleef & Arpels and worked on the emblematic ballerina brooches before going solo. Tarpin’s recent pinned odes to orchids feature a single
diamond at the bloom’s center, with petals that seem to dance in space.
Sculptural forms and unexpected materials abound in recent collections, like Cartier’s latest iteration of its legendary Panthère, extravagantly set with emerald eyes, an onyx nose and 579 brilliant-cut diamonds. Meanwhile, Boucheron’s reinterpretation of the category includes nods to ceremonial regalia in the Power of Couture 2024 collection and a pair of shimmering shoulder brooches, recalling crashing waves on the shore, made with the help of 3D software for the latest Or Bleu line.
Originating humbly as practical flint or thorn fasteners in the Bronze Age, pins evolved into opulent ornaments during the Byzantine era. Today, they serve as a symbol of self-expression, ranging from slender pins to elaborate displays. A standout 2024 example is from independent Taiwanese designer Cindy Chao’s 20th-anniversary collection, with
Courtesy Buccellati, Boucheron
From the impossibly thin gold frame floating 250 diamonds in Buccellatti’s Butterfly Venezia to Boucheron’s reclaiming of ceremonial crests (previous spread) and French prodigy Emmanuel Tarpin’s organic lapel wonders (below), the modern brooch serves as a canvas for artistry and self-expression.
exquisite renditions of two of her hallmark brooches: the Dragonfly, wielding 13 gemstones in 50 colors to fashion a winged creature about to take flight, and her Four Seasons Leaf. For the latter, a team of 12 European master craftspeople set each 1.77-millimeter-thick titanium pin with 1,500 gemstones (emeralds, tsavorites, white diamonds) to thoroughly replicate the natural creases, curves, gradient colors, and play of light and shadow on a plant’s surface.
All brooches carry a message—whether honoring nature, parading seals, channeling inspiration or fostering connection. Consider surrealist-leaning maison Schiaparelli’s 7.5-inch gilded brass dove with an olive branch adorning Lady Gaga at the 2021 presidential inauguration—a poignant symbol of peace that captured the zeitgeist of a nation in flux. These badges of honor proclaiming heraldry or affinity for a certain animal, bloom or stone also serve a social function. “They invite conversation,” Higgs says. The jewelry archivist often sports a spectacular brooch, reflecting men’s growing— and perhaps, leading—presence in the revival. This year, the trend formidably took hold, with arresting pins as the number one tux accessory at the 2024 Oscars. Matthew McConaughey, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Ben Kingsley and Robert Downey Jr. all adorned their looks with pins from the likes of Cartier, Boucheron and Tiffany & Co. (the brand’s Bird on a Rock is a sartorial favorite
for celebs). Floral brooches were prolific—for all genders—at the 2024 Met Gala, too, and myriad high jewelry houses debuted transformer jewels that unclip to become prodigious brooches, along with reimagined takes on classic pins.
Earlier this year, Buccellati hosted a museumworthy retrospective dedicated to the brand’s 100 years of fine jewelry making. “Our collections have always featured brooches as classic centerpieces,” notes Lucrezia Buccellati, co-creative director and fourth-generation heir. Central to the exhibition were four butterfly brooches—one from each generation. Lucrezia’s Venezia Butterfly design was initially considered impossible to create by the maison’s artisans, due to its precarious diamond-setting and fragile openwork gold lines. It took careful research to transform the brand’s techniques—including the complex ‘tulle’ craft— into a graceful butterfly, with two pear-shaped diamonds for the body and more than 250 diamonds floating within delicate wings of gold.
From timeless masterpieces to modern interpretations, current-day brooches know no bounds—especially when it comes to how they are worn. You can pin one to a lapel or remix the genre by flaunting it at the waist, on a bag, as a jacket button, on a shoe—however you please. Just know that wherever it goes, the piece will draw attention and speak volumes. Higgs adds: “I think of brooches as emblems of their wearers—and their tastes.”
Courtesy Emmanuel Tarpin
BY STEPHEN WATSON
COUTURE IN MOTION
Time dances, sings and tells stories in automata—living, ticking canvases representing the pinnacle of horological artistry
Imagine a tiny ballerina pirouetting on your wrist or miniature birds singing at the push of a button. These are automata—marvels featuring animated scenes and synchronized movements that have captivated watch enthusiasts around the world. For centuries, these mechanical wonders have transformed the simple act of checking time into a moment of enchanting discovery, a tradition that thrives today through new expressions of horological storytelling.
The 18th century is often regarded as the Golden Age of automaton watches. Swiss and French watchmakers, such as Pierre JaquetDroz and Abraham-Louis Breguet, originated and elevated the craft to new heights. Their automata incorporated remarkable complications capable of performing complex tasks like writing, drawing and playing musical instruments. By the Industrial Revolution, automata became status symbols of wealth and sophistication.
In recent decades, the interest and whimsy have resurged, driven by a renewed appreciation for mechanical artistry and craftsmanship. Modern iterations take advantage of digital renderings and advanced materials like silicon, high-tech alloys and composite materials to create contemporary pieces powered by historical
techniques and cutting-edge technology. The pieces, blending métiers d’art (traditional decorative techniques, producing detailed designs on a micro-scale) with intricate complications, are often designed as one-of-a-kind collector’s items or customized with a narrative twist.
The 355 components of the Chanel J12 Automaton Caliber 6 (limited to 100 pieces) generate a manual-winding mechanical movement that brings to life the animated dial. With the push of a button, the figure of Mademoiselle Chanel, scissors in hand, and a dress form, sway in her atelier, surrounded by a 48-diamond-set bezel.
Meanwhile, Jaquet Droz’s legacy endures with automata featuring a bird fluttering and singing, swirling dragons and The Rolling Stones’ iconic Hot Lips emblem. In the 2023 automaton created for the band’s 60th anniversary, the dial shows the ‘tongue and lips’ logo spinning alongside album covers, with a detailed replica of the band’s instruments overhead. Each watch is made as one-of-one, and every detail—down to Mick Jagger’s detailed harmonica, the amp’s tweed finish and Keith Richards’ five-string guitar—is shaped from red gold, hand-engraved and painted. The buyer selects the six seminal
Courtesy Van Cleef & Arpels
Jaquet Droz, an automaton pioneer dating to 1738, created The Rolling Stones’ 60th anniversary watch, which microscopically recreates the band’s instruments in detail. At the touch of a button, six iconic albums (selected by the buyer) and a swaying Hot Lips emblem revolve beneath the stage.
albums that orbit, as if on a merry-go-round, when you push on the crown.
For a more whimsical take, Van Cleef & Arpels’ idyllic automata suit a blooming Naples afternoon. The recently unveiled 38-millimeter Lady Arpels Brise D’Été automaton watch is inspired by summer breezes, with white- and yellow-gold butterflies fluttering around swaying vallonné enamel forget-me-nots. “The technical mechanism, always hidden, brings the watch to life, displaying the time as if by magic,” says Rainer Bernard, director of watchmaking research and development. As with every Van Cleef automaton, the wristwatch beckons you to indulge in time’s gentle poetry. With the 2022 Lady Arpels Heures Florales, you must stop to count the opened flowers to tell the time. In the 2019 Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux, a couple floats toward each other, getting closer with every passing hour and minute until they land
on a kiss on a moonlit Parisian bridge at midnight and mid-day. The horological story might prompt you to luxuriate in a stolen moment or remind you to cherish life’s tender interludes. Then, there’s Ballerines Musicales, introduced in 2020 after nearly a decade of perfecting. On-demand, theater curtains part, revealing a set of ballerinas dancing to mini compositions by Fauré, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.
From the intricate creations of 18th-century masters to the high-tech marvels of today, automata continue to push the boundaries of watchmaking artistry. These miniature marvels do more than tell time—they share stories, capture moments and invite us into a realm where mechanical ingenuity meets artistic expression. With these watches, time is not just measured, but experienced, celebrated, and brought to life with every tick and magical movement.
Courtesy
Jaquet Droz
It’s been years in the making. Tower 500. Kalea Bay’s final offering. No detail has been overlooked, nor untouched. Beginning with the desire to create vast outdoor living areas, these sophisticated residences are replete with enviable south and west views. 10-foot ceilings are now standard as are elevated selections. The last of its kind and a first in resort-style living. Only at Kalea Bay.
FIT FOR A QUEEN
A once-in-a-lifetime gem, this Provident Jewelry ring crowns itself with 100 carats of dazzling beauty, scientific wonder and royal rarity
Long vaulted, the 100.08-carat diamond was recently set by Naples’ Provident Jewelry into a masterful two-finger ring adorned with a pair of 1-carat, pear-shaped diamonds and 50 vivid pinks.
Few things make a jewelry lover’s heart stop like a massive diamond, and discovering one over 100 carats approaches the mythical. Even more extraordinary is one certified by the Gemological Institute of America as a Type IIa diamond—the chemically purest of natural gems.
This 100.08-carat triumph from Naples’ Provident Jewelry displays a crystalline clarity reminiscent of the purest distilled water. Part of an elite group known as ‘superdeep’ diamonds, the stone originated 180-620 miles beneath the Earth’s crust. Forming at more than twice the depth of most diamonds—Type IIas emerge free of nitrogen and other impurities that would
affect diamonds’ structure and color. “Saying it’s rare is an understatement of epic proportions,” says Provident’s president Rob Samuels, adding that the stone commanded superlative praise at London’s Treasure House Fair in June.
Provident set the diamond into an 18-karat white gold, two-finger ring, befitting its D color grade (the highest possible) and VS1 clarity. While most significant diamonds today feature ultra-modern cuts, this one showcases an Old World cushion cut, producing dramatic flashes of celestial light. The extraordinary piece, along with naming rights, awaits its destined collector for $21 million.
As a Type IIa diamond—among the rarest of gems, formed in the Earth’s mantle—the stone is free of nitrogen, yielding celestial brilliance and a water-like quality as pristine as arctic ice.
Model: Anastasia Grik
BIOHACKING
BEAUTY
Breakthrough advances in aesthetic science don’t just mask time— they coax older skin cells into reversing their biological clocks
‘Bioregenerative’ is the newest buzzword in beauty, spawning an arsenal of anti-aging products and procedures designed to ‘biohack’ the body to age in reverse. These innovations prompt existing cells to ramp up activity and regenerate—essentially reprogramming them to behave as their younger selves. The result is stimulated tissue production and natural results that last.
Unlike traditional dermal fillers offering temporary effects, bio-injectables plump while working on a cellular level to improve skin over time. Injectable fat stimulator Renuva has been making headlines for its long-lasting results of five to 10 years. Derived from donated, purified human tissue, Renuva (available locally at Naples Skin Clinic) encourages fat production and contains healing, collagen-stimulating growth factors.
“When we get older, our faces start to deflate and descend due to deeper fat loss,” says Fort Lauderdale dermatologist Dr. Shino Bay Aguilera, a Renuva elite injector also known for his finesse with other biostimulator injectables.
Previously, volume was replaced with hyaluronic acid fillers, which don’t move like natural fat, resulting in what Aguilera describes as “a very unusual look.” “I like my patients to get younger instead of just appearing younger,” he says. He also uses polynucleotides—derived from salmon and trout sperm DNA—to stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis. The microneedling treatment is popular for the tricky under-eye area.
Bioactive ingredients (including classics like antioxidants and peptides and newcomers like polynucleotides) also hit a new high for at-home skincare. La Prairie closely guards the formula behind its Life Matrix Haute Rejuvenation Cream, but the promise lies in replenishing mRNA, cellular carriers that direct the production of vital skinstructuring proteins.
Another need-to-know beauty breakthrough: exosomes. These tiny envelopes are released by cells to deliver messages (like ‘make more collagen’ or ‘burn more fat’). A million times smaller than cells themselves, natural exosomes can be supplemented via microneedling, and now, skincare products, such as Plated and SickScience Lab’s state-of-the-art serums. “Exosomes are so tiny they can penetrate the skin in topical products and really do work,” he says.
By decoding and harnessing nature’s mechanisms, brands are also improving on ageold potions. Virginskin Daily Glow Active Hydrator contains polyglutamic acid, a next-generation soybean-sourced moisturizer that works better than hyaluronic acid by sealing in hydration and cocktailing well with vitamin C, peptide, niacinamide and retinol. Yes, topical retinol remains the at-home, anti-aging gold standard, and now it’s refined with biomimetic compounds, which the body recognizes as natural allies. The result? Better absorption, speedier results and less dreaded dryness and irritation, which tend to accompany retinol use. The A Method’s new Reti-XO, from renowned dermatologist Dr. Tina Alster, blends the potent rejuvenator with exosomes to drive the active ingredients deeper into the skin. Meanwhile, Eve Lom’s Time Retreat Smoothing Eye Complex encapsulates retinol with hydrating liposomes and soothing prebiotic oat kernel for a gentler, more controlled release.
Mother Science’s Retinol Synergist blends the classic with Malassezin—a skin barrier-boosting antioxidant that’s naturally produced by the body and said to be stronger than vitamin C. The formula reduces retinol’s sensitizing effects while amplifying its benefits for thicker, firmer skin with fewer dark spots and lines faster. Beat that, Benjamin Button.
MEN OF DISTINCTION / FASHION FEATURES
Omar Cruz
MEN of THE HOUR
Three Neapolitans make their mark on philanthropy and entrepreneurship with a generosity of spirit and a flair for style
By David Graver
Photography by Omar Cruz Styling by Veronica Porras
950 Admiralty Parade E is listed at $21,950,000. The location was supplied by Michael G. Lawler P.A.
AMONG
NAPLES’
ILLUSTRIOUS CROWD OF PHILANTHROPISTS AND TITANS OF INDUSTRY IS A TIGHT CADRE OF LEADERS WHO DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES THROUGH THEIR PERSONAL STYLE AND VISIONARY DRIVE TO ELEVATE THE COMMUNITY. THROUGH THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS—WHETHER CULTURAL, PHILANTHROPIC OR BOTH—JOHN QUINN, ONUR HAYTAC AND PHILIP MCCABE CONTINUALLY IMBUE NAPLES WITH THEIR GENEROSITY AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT.
JOHN QUINN
John Quinn and his wife, Dr. Amy Quinn, live by a longstanding mantra: “Give where you live.” The family moved to Naples from Southern California in 2019—drawn to the area’s familiar outdoor lifestyle, palm trees, sunny days and sandy beaches—and quickly put those guiding words into action. Within a few years, the pair distinguished themselves as philanthropic powerhouses with a packed social calendar of big-ticket galas, including Naples Zoo at Caribbean Garden’s Zoo Gala, Naples Winter Wine Festival, STARability Foundation’s STAR Gala, Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples’ Night at the Museum and Youth Haven’s Starry Nights.
As a father of three, Quinn champions children’s charities and organizations providing mental health resources. He and Amy established a family foundation, Fountain 33, focusing on education, prevention and treatment of mental health crises.
“I want to make a difference and help kids. I want to champion mental health with my wife, who has a doctorate in leadership in this area,” Quinn says. “I wouldn’t be half the man I am without Amy. I’m so grateful for her.”
Quinn serves as the nonprofit’s president and managing director, drawing on his career experience in strategic planning and financial management to maximize the foundation’s impact. He and Amy also chaired last year’s Sound Minds benefit for David Lawrence Centers and have established a comprehensive program to address mental health and personal growth at Community School of Naples, where their children are enrolled. “Everyone there knows how important mental health is to the overall success of a culture,” Quinn says of his children’s school.
Running in Naples’ philanthropic and social circles required a change of wardrobe for Quinn.
Previous spread: McCabe wears a
Right: Quinn sports a jacket and sweater from Saks Fifth Avenue; Isaia cardigan; Eton pocket square.
Tom Ford deep blue dinner jacket and bow tie; Emporio Armani white tuxedo shirt and pants; Ferragamo shoes. Quinn dons an Isaia white dinner jacket and pants; Emporio Armani shirt; Dolce & Gabbana pocket square; Tom Ford bow tie. Haytac wears Tom Ford pants, dinner jacket, shirt and pocket square; Ferragamo shoes.
Haytac dons a Gaurav Gupta black velvet tuxedo jacket; Dolce & Gabbana pants and silk shirt; Carolina Campoy alligator weekend bag.
McCabe plays the piano in a Brunello Cucinelli suit; Emporio Armani shirt; Eton scarves and pocket square.
“I ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU SHOULD DRESS IN A WAY THAT REFLECTS WHERE YOU WANT TO BE.”
“In California, you wear black jeans and a nice T-shirt to a restaurant, but here, we adapted to a much dressier style,” Quinn says. “Marissa Collections feels like an anchor.” For galas, he’ll coordinate attire with his wife, completing a look with a wristwatch from his collection, which includes Bulgari, Breitling, Chopard and a custom Ernst Benz acquired at a Youth Haven fundraiser. He’s also an avid collector of exemplary vehicles, like the Lamborghini Aventador S, Bentley Bentayga and a carbon-fiber-covered Range Rover Sport SVR.
Two years ago, Quinn and his wife deepened their commitment to local children by joining forces with Naples’ first families of philanthropy as trustees of Naples Children & Education Foundation. “It’s a unique organization that’s done so much in such a short period of time for disadvantaged kids in our county,” Quinn says. “It’s bringing resources to so many different organizations and providing them access to capital and organization in a way that’s really well measured, monitored and managed.”
ONUR HAYTAC
Tech tycoon Onur Haytac believes in a well-cut suit. “I always thought you should dress in a way that reflects where you want to be,” he says. “I always wore suits when I was in college. A wardrobe doesn’t just happen overnight. You build it.” The Istanbul native moved to Southwest Florida in 2000 to study at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he received a master’s degree in computer information technologies. Two weeks before graduation, a local Subway franchisee reached out for help with a glitch in their point-of-sales (POS) system. Haytac began developing improved software solutions that would also work at other franchises and later created a cloud-based POS to serve restaurants worldwide.
His sophisticated tech portfolio, which also encompasses other payment-processing technologies, has taken Haytac around the world, but despite his penchant for jet-setting, he feels most at home in Naples. Here, he nurtures pursuits outside the tech space, including curating an impressive collection of rare timepieces by Patek
Upper and lower left: Quinn sports an Emporio Armani jacket and shirt; Ralph Lauren pants; Tom Ford pocket square; Ferragamo shoes. Upper right: Haytac dons Brunello Cucinelli pants, jacket and sweater; 100% Capri scarf; Berluti shoes. Lower right: Tom Ford shirt and dinner jacket.
Philippe, F.P. Journe and Vacheron Constantin and competing on the Ferrari Challenge North America amateur racing circuit.
Between fostering his distinctive pursuits and building his new home in Pine Ridge Estates (a Polynesian-inspired, ultra-luxe spec home concept he plans to translate into an architectural portfolio), Haytac is also committed to paying it forward. In January, he made a splash at the Naples Winter Wine Festival, raising his paddle to the tune of $1.4 million and taking home the coveted Rolls Royce Spectre, the British brand’s first foray into electric vehicles. He and his wife, Jelena (the two wed over the summer), also created 2L Foundation, or Love + Light Foundation. Through the organization, they partner with other nonprofits to raise awareness surrounding child victims of human trafficking and to provide resources like healthcare, education and disaster relief to vulnerable children. “I had a spiritual awakening,” Haytac says. “Through education and awareness, we can teach parents how child traffickers operate.” Earlier this year, the 2L Foundation held its first gala at Ferrari of Naples, raising nearly $1 million. “We have a spectacular group of people here,” he says proudly.
PHILIP MCCABE
Philip McCabe knows the landscape of Naples well because his family has been instrumental in shaping it. His father and namesake, a real estate developer and hotelier, is a leading force behind many of the city’s residential and commercial projects, including revitalizing Fifth Avenue South into a world-class destination, with The Inn on Fifth as the family’s crown jewel. “My dad would build different projects, and we would move into a lot of them,” the younger McCabe says. “As far as a home is concerned, I understand the entire community as my home.”
Instilled values of community betterment took shape at a young age. McCabe launched his first
business, an IT company assisting older residents in his gated community, before his first doubledigit birthday. “I enjoyed solving problems,” he recalls. “In many cases, entrepreneurship is really just that. You’re solving problems.”
Now, the 28-year-old serves as vice president of operations at the family’s Gulf Coast Commercial Corporation, where he’s continuing the legacy of visionary development with a new generation of restaurants and hotels reflecting a modern, global sensibility.
In 2021, McCabe debuted The Vine Room, a speakeasy-inspired cocktail lounge on Fifth Avenue South. The tropical-retro interiors and theatrically presented libations evoke past visits to some of the world’s iconic lounges, like the historic Bar Hemingway at The Ritz Paris and Barcelona’s avant-garde Paradiso. “Whenever I look at hospitality, I look at it all the way down to the granular exchange of emotions,” he says. “Everything I do, really comes down to how I can maximize happiness, laughter and those emotions for other people.”
An ardent patron of the arts, McCabe often dons an understated suit (“I am a more toned-down type of person, but I care about high-quality materials,” he says) in support of institutions like Artis—Naples and Gulfshore Playhouse. Outside the theater, his sights are firmly set on his next venture: the fall 2026 opening of the all-suite The Carnelian Hotel. Once again, McCabe, alongside his father and brother, is pulling inspiration from distinguished luxury brands with international cachet, like Singapore grand dame Raffles and palatial The Peninsula Hong Kong. “We are perfecting the suite,” he says. “There will be an extremely high level of service and attention.” The boutique property also has state-of-the-art wellness services, two restaurants and a members-only private club modeled after exclusive London haunts known for glamour and indulgence.
McCabe wears an Emporio Armani tuxedo shirt; Tom Ford bow tie.
Tailoring by Dayne Sabatos. HMUA by Duality Artistry.
STELLAR ENGINES OF DESIRE
IN A SPECTACULAR FUSION OF POWER AND GRACE, THE SEASON’S MOST DRAMATIC SILHOUETTES EMBRACE MECHANICAL PERFECTION MO
PHOTOGRAPHY BY OMAR CRUZ
STYLING BY VERONICA PORRAS
LOCATION: JET 1
AUTOMOBILES: LAMBORGHINI NAPLES
Tony Ward dress with crystal stones and a silk train.
Previous spread: Rami Al Ali mermaid-cut skirt; Lena Erziak cape; Patricia Robalino Designs white coral and black diamond earrings.
Gaurav Gupta serpentine top; Lisa Nik white gold diamond glasses chain; Max Mara sunglasses.
Right: Celia Kritharioti cape dress; Patricia Robalino Designs diamond cascade earrings; Vera Wang gloves.
Lena Erziak black structural dress; Patricia Robalino Designs earrings.
Gaurav Gupta black velvet gown with red shell; Lanvin black handbag with cat shaped crystallized handle; Zeil Millinery black wool and crystal hat; Lisa Nik ruby earrings and diamond necklace.
Carolina Campoy black alligator bag; Balmain patent boots; Lanvin cat handle bag and cuffs; Patricia Robalino Designs assorted jewelry; Francis de Lara x Gemfields sunglasses; Lisa Nik assorted earrings. GORDON
Isabel Sanchis tulle pleated ombré jacket and pants; Max Mara sunglasses; Patricia Robalino Designs mother of pearl and pavé diamond earrings; Cornelia James black velvet gloves.
Falguni Shane Peacock gold trench coat; Hugo Boss black sheer dress; Lisa Nik gold earrings; Zeil Millinery black fascinator; Lanvin clutch.
Model: Natalie Beeson. HMUA: Duality Artistry.
YACHTS / SPEED / ESCAPE / GAMES PLAY
Courtesy Blueiprod
BY KEVIN KOENIG
Every inch of Shahid Khan’s new, 400-foot floating palace tells a story of unrestrained imagination— and for $3 million, she could be yours for a week
Courtesy Blueiprod
After stepping aboard many of the world’s most celebrated vessels, esteemed marine chronicler Kevin Koenig declares nothing rivals Kismet .
Opulence has a new name on the water with Kismet When she launched last spring, the 400-foot gigayacht turned heads with her size and striking presence. Built by Germany’s Lürssen, whose name is synonymous with superyacht excellence, Kismet belongs to part-time Neapolitan and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.
A 13-foot stainless steel jaguar hugs the underside of her bow, giving a bold nod to Khan’s team and setting the tone for the ship’s dramatic design. For the mogul’s third superyacht with Lürssen, he asked that they go bigger and bolder than before, topping
the ‘Champagne and caviar’ directive for his last maritime wonder.
In a class of her own for her scale and scope (estimated as the 30th largest Lürssen yacht in the world), Kismet challenges convention by welcoming charter guests—a privilege among vessels of this caliber. The six-deck wonder is the second-largest yacht accessible to American clients. At about $3 million per week, Kismet offers an opportunity to experience the pinnacle of floating luxury on a vessel with running costs cresting at $30 million a year.
Courtesy Jarmo Pohjaniemi
From vanguard builder Lürssen, the gigayacht is a testament to marine architecture, with six decks and a sleek superstructure by Italian firm Nuvolari Lenard. A Jacksonville Jaguars figurehead hugs the bow.
Designed by Italian firm Nuvolari Lenard, Kismet ’s sleek steel profile contrasts elegantly with her white superstructure. White-shoe British firm Reymond Langton Design handled the interiors, with graphic video walls, tons of marble, multiple fireplaces, and a majestic owner’s suite (complete with his-and-her dressing rooms, and a private jacuzzi, sunbathing lounge and beauty salon).
Work needn’t be interrupted on your aquatic escape. The savvy businessman ensured Kismet included a secluded owner’s office with panoramic views and a staircase leading to the board room on the pool deck.
A walk through Kismet unlocks a cornucopia of wonders, reflecting the boldest intersection
of design and pop culture—from the DJ station setting the mood above the bridge deck aft to the coastal-cool pool-level lounge, which transforms with a neon dance floor at night, to the Versailles Hall of Mirrors-inspired salon and dining room in the main deck. On the lower level, an LED-lit engine corridor (christened TRON) creates a sci-fi interlude between the serene Balinese wellness space and opulent Art Deco cinema, its walls alive with holographic metrics from the yacht’s advanced hybrid powertrain.
Accommodating up to 12 guests in nine expansive staterooms (each themed after a couture house, like Chanel, Dior and Hermès), Kismet is attended by a crew of about 40, with members
Kinetic video walls, regal chandeliers and marble work, and a serpentine staircase spiraling through the decks define the interiors of this maritime marvel, where each level unveils a new realm of wonder.
Courtesy Blueiprod
In their third collaboration with Naples resident Shahid Khan, Lürssen orchestrates a dialogue between epochs—from the hand-painted de Gournay celestial fresco in the Hall of Mirrors-inspired salon to the Balinese-inspired wellness sanctuary, with an ethereal steam fireplace and a cryotherapy chamber.
Every detail on Kismet was conceived as a showpiece. The exterior blends the crew’s vintage ocean liner inspirations and Khan’s team spirit, with the bow and mast modeled after a leaping jaguar.
specializing in services like massage therapy and dive instruction.
As for the amenities—sure, you’ll find the basic (gym, multiple swimming pools, Champagne and wine rooms, cinemas) and not-so-basic indulgences (like the helipad transforming into a pickleball or basketball court). But, at every turn, Kismet raises the bar: The beach club has an AI-generated bust made to resemble Khan’s mother, wife and daughter all at once; a large Nemo window in the cinema to scope undersea wonders; the spa has a cold-plunge pool, ‘steam fireplace,’ juice bar and cryotherapy chamber.
Those craving adventure at sea will have access to a mini watersports operation, with several luxury tenders for port calls, SEABOB diving scooters, windsurf boards and an inflatable slide, among myriad playthings.
Not surprisingly, since debuting at the Monaco Yacht Show in September, the grand dame has already garnered two best-in-class awards, including top Charter Yacht in Robb Report ’s illustrious Best of the Best issue. Kismet spends summers in the Mediterranean and winters in the Caribbean, within ideal range for Naples snowbirds seeking a mid-season escape.
Courtesy Jarmo Pohjaniemi
ELECTRIC DREAMS
THE NEXT FRONTIER OF HIGH-SPEED RACING IS HERE— all-electric boats, STAR-STUDDED TEAMS AND COURSES IN THE most GLAMOROUS SPOTS ON THE planet
You might recall the notorious ‘thunderboats’ of the 1980s, the speed demons that turned Miami into a playground of horsepower. Now, a new breed of electric racers has arrived to steal the spotlight. Enter the UIM World Championship by E1 Series—a racing circuit set to revolutionize powerboating in the same way that Formula 1 did for motorsports.
The brainchild of Alejandro Agag and Rodi Basso, who combine their diverse experiences in F1, politics and aerospace engineering, E1 promises not just speed but a futuristic blend of high-performance and eco-conscious engineering. The circuit’s centerpiece? Foiling RaceBirds as the
boats are affectionately dubbed for their decidedly avian appearance. The sleek, all-electric vessels glide across the water at up to 58 mph. Powered by a single Mercury Racing outboard engine, the boats have lightning-fast acceleration, while the foils minimize drag, allowing racers to fly across the water’s surface, leaving barely a ripple to rock nearby boats or marine life.
Think America’s Cup, which popularized foiling but with the torque of F1. And much like Formula 1, E1, which kicked off last February in Saudi Arabia, is attracting A-list attention. Names like Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal, Didier Drogba and Will Smith aren’t just fans—they’re team owners.
E1’s 23-foot electric RaceBirds blend the best of Formula 1 and America’s Cup, soaring at 58 mph on advanced foiling technology. Since launching in Jeddah last February, the series has drawn elite owners like Tom Brady, Will Smith and Rafael Nadal.
Courtesy
E1 Team Miami/Adam Pigott
In a first for elite powerboat racing, each E1 team pairs a male and female pilot, their intense duels unfolding in the world’s most coveted waters—from Venetian canals to Marbella’s golden coast.
Each E1 team has two pilots—a man and a woman—a nod to equality in the sport. With races already completed in Jeddah, Venice, Marbella, Monaco, Lake Como and Hong Kong, and an upcoming event slated for Qatar, E1 takes over the world’s most exclusive waters. The spectacle is undeniable, particularly in Venice, where the RaceBirds soared through ancient canals and waterways, electrifying the city like never before. With every high-profile race, E1 cements its place as the next status symbol in high-end sports, where access to the thrill is reserved for those in the know.
Courtesy E1/Oscar Lumley
Come and share in a love of the arts
From music to sculpture, symphony to ballet, brush strokes to poetry—the spoken word, the big themes, the fine detail, the shared experience—and from Broadway to Bach and back again, it all finds celebration and connection here. Come and share your love of the arts with us, as we share our love of the arts with you.
Alexander Shelley, Sharon and Timothy Ubben Artistic and Music Director
JAPHE
Luxury travel takes its cues from film and television, immersing intrepid fans in the worlds of iconic characters
We often look to film and television to inspire our dreams. It was only a matter of time before they’d shape our vacation plans. Everyone’s acquainted with the concept of jet-setting, the glamorous get-up-and-go approach to enjoying the globe. But have you heard of set-jetting ? Epitomized by award-winning travel company Black Tomato, the clever term describes a trend in luxury travel favoring destinations made famous on screen. But while anyone can theoretically book a suite at the Four Seasons Taormina at San Domenico Palace (the in-demand Sicilian setting of The
White Lotus ’s second season), travel operators like Black Tomato are curating thoughtful itineraries that immerse you in the world of James Bond or Jon Snow, unlocking access to filming locations, iconic brands and exclusive experiences.
As a pioneer in the space, Black Tomato offers itineraries to starring-role destinations. One might venture on a nine-night jaunt into Games of Thrones ’ world stretching from Dubrovnik to Iceland, or a seven-day escape through England inspired by the period drama Downton Abbey This trip features private tours of primary
Set-jetting is taking off, with luxury travel operators curating itineraries that immerse fans in the settings of popular films and television series, like James Bond and Game of Thrones
Trips unlock access to exclusive experiences: For its Mission: Impossible journey, Pelorus Travel connects you with tactical and stunt teams for adrenaline-pumping car chases and parachuting in the remote Norwegian countryside.
filming location Highclere Castle and the English countryside in an AC Six, an afternoon of English sport, and royal historian-led visits to historic hatters and shops.
A new experience initiates fans into the Montana ranching lifestyle of the hit Kevin Costner neo-Western drama Yellowstone , including sunrise wolf-watching in the national park’s Lamar Valley with a local naturalist, saddling up with cowboys for a cattle drive, glamping under Montana’s famous dark skies and dinner with one of the oldest ranching families
in Jackson Hole. “We’ve seen record demand for these trips, especially over the past few years, with peaks occurring as hit shows debut,” Carolyn Addison, head of product at Black Tomato, says. “The strong interest speaks to the desire to purposefully connect with films and shows beyond the screen, to discover the magic of destinations and … uncover deeper meaning.”
In 2022, the company was named the official travel partner of James Bond , giving fans unprecedented access to the dazzling world of 007. The Assignment: Europe, a 12-day sweep through
Courtesy Pelorus Travel/Jason Roberts
the continent, offers full immersion, including speedboating down the Thames with one of the franchise’s location managers, a sartorial tour and a masterclass in martinis, gambling at membersonly Mayfair club Les Ambassadeurs, training with a 007 stunt coordinator, yachting along the Côte d’Azur, and roster of luxurious hotels, bars and restaurants fit for the secret agent.
Earlier this year, adventure travel specialist Pelorus Travel launched a high-octane itinerary inspired by the Mission: Impossible franchise.
The nine-night odyssey takes wannabe Ethan Hunts deep into the remote Norwegian countryside to train with a team of tactical and survival specialists before completing a series of adrenaline-pumping tasks, like parachuting, stunt choreography and racing supercars.
(Don’t worry, you’ll sleep well at the same opulent manor where Tom Cruise stayed during production of the seventh film.)
For more wining and dining, there’s British travel company Red Savannah’s Ferraris, Sunsets
In Rome, where set-jetting pioneer Black Tomato offers multiple experiences, including a The Young Pope-inspired itinerary, travelers are spoiled with five-star hotels, private tours, fine dining and designer shopping with fashion experts.
Courtesy Black Tomato/Ludwig Thalheimer
Step into a different world—one of prestige, style and sophistication with unprecedented design details.
Featuring a limited collection of sixty-eight meticulously appointed Gulf-front residences and an extraordinary suite of amenities, including the residents-only Private Dining Club, Epique offers an elevated and exclusive lifestyle unrivaled in Naples.
Black Tomato is the official travel partner of James Bond, offering a 12-day sweep through the franchise’s European filming locations.
& Super Tuscans tour through Northern Italy, inspired by last year’s Ferrari biopic. While one of the primary focuses is cruising through winding hills and legendary racing circuits in a Ferrari F8 Tributo, the tour also includes private wine tastings, dinner at three-Michelin-starred
Osteria Francescana, and site visits, including stops at Lamborghini’s Urus assembly line and the appointment-only Stanguellini Museum, a bastion of historic racing pedigree.
Wherever you decide to set jet, one thing’s sure: your next vacation will be a total scene.
“We’ve seen record demand for these trips,” Carolyn Addison, head of product at Black Tomato, which recently debuted a Yellowstone experience, says. “The strong interest speaks to the desire to purposefully connect with films and shows beyond the screen.”
Courtesy Black Tomato
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE CURATED TO YOUR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS BY A PROFESSIONAL WITH A TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS AND SATISFIED CUSTOMERS? Lori Fowler, P.A. 239.977.9939 550 Fifth Avenue S., Naples, FL 34102 International Presidents Premier Top 1% of CB Agents Worldwide The #1 Individual Producing Agent Coldwell Banker Naples 5th Avenue
PLAY
BY BEN DREITH
THE PERFECT SHOT
In his Miami atelier, master craftsman Dan Brandt doesn’t just build billiards tables—he orchestrates heirloom pieces that elevate the art of leisure into a rarefied ritual
Billiard tables, viewed momentarily or over time, can reveal multitudes. Watch a table for even a few hours, and you will see social cohesion and dissonance. You will see the movement of the balls on the crisp plane, demonstrating physics in action, and witness the precision at the conjunction of the players’ hand and eye while wielding finely crafted cues.
Attorney-turned-designer Dan Brandt relishes this conceptual and material richness. His studio creates custom billiards tables and furniture for a wide array of clients, from private individuals to institutions like the Naples Beach Club and the Brooklyn Nets, for whom he designed a table that incorporates the reclaimed wood from the NBA team’s inaugural season placed upon a base 3D printed to resemble a to-scale Brooklyn Bridge.
In his 50 years of craft and engineering, Brandt has become, by all measures, a master—a description made even more salient given his commitment to looking for new tools and esteemed collaborators and technologies. Most recently, Brandt has delved into AI image generation to bring to life fantastic designs. Wielding what he says is the next generation of tools, he conjures up designs blending art, function and play into pieces with immaculate individuality.
His secret? Working with clients as collaborators. “I like to work with smart people,” Brandt says of his clients. Often clad in a J.Crew shirt, black jeans and Birkenstocks coupled with a prestigious mustache, Brandt, a veritable philosopher, visits homes and institutions. He takes stock of the architecture, decor and client’s
The Miami designer—who is crafting a showpiece for the Four Seasons’ upcoming Naples Beach Club— elevates billiards tables into sculptural statements with incredible range—from a mahogany set handsomely adorned with gold to a psychedelic sensation carved to swirl like a dramatic, Florida sunset.
character; returns with a series of drawings, models, and AI-generated images; and iterates on the design based on the client’s reactions.
“I’m not selling them anything,” says Brandt, who considers himself a tool with which the clients can carve their desires from the universe of options and styles at his fingertips. “At that point, they become collaborators, not consumers. It becomes a celebration,” he says.
Brandt is committed to this ethos; his method is part of his service. Besides giving clients singular, highly functional work, the craftsman helps them uncover something about themselves. The process crystallizes dreams in an object meant to be used. He even plans for the unexpected: Once, he designed a table strong enough for people to climb up and dance. Like an experienced pool player, he’s always thinking moves ahead.
Fusing craftsmanship and modern technologies, Brandt builds stories into every design, like his Brooklyn Nets table with reclaimed wood from their court or a parlor jewel floating atop an aquarium.
Courtesy Ruinart/Raul Cabrera
BY BARONESS SHERI DE BORCHGRAVE
ETERNAL EFFERVESCENCE
In an audacious architectural pas de deux, the world’s oldest Champagne house unveils a sensorial sanctuary where centuries of tradition dance with avant-garde vision
For those who voyage to Bordeaux for barrel tastings or bid on private tours of Tuscany’s most exclusive cantinas at the Naples Winter Wine Festival, Champagne’s newest cultural landmark offers an unprecedented reason to journey to France’s storied wine country. Maison Ruinart, the original Grande Marque Champagne house, which shares ranks with Dom Perignon, Krug and Cristal, has transformed its historic headquarters. The striking new brand home, unveiled after three years of meticulous renovation in the heart of Champagne, France, doubles as a world-class contemporary art destination—one that’s now unexpectedly accessible. The once-discrete 7-acre property at 4 Rue Crayères in Reims has opened its doors to the public without appointment, marking a revolutionary shift for the 295-year-old maison.
Visitors enter through a secret passageway carved between towering limestone walls and flow into a sculpture garden that showcases original commissions from emerging and established contemporary art stars. A sculptural triptych from British-French duo Daniel Dewar and Grégory Gicquel lines the pathway into the new Nicolas Ruinart Pavilion—a sustainable masterpiece by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. French landscape architect Christophe Gautrand transformed the courtyard into a sensorial
sanctuary, where 19 original artworks nestle among geometric-patterned hedges and woodlands.
The thrilling heart of the visitor experience hides underground in les crayères, the chalk caves beneath the building and garden, where Ruinart showcases its most daring fusion of heritage and innovation. Having earned UNESCO World Heritage status for their historical significance in Champagne production, the cathedral-like chambers descend 125 feet underground and extend 5 miles across three levels, now doubling as a subterranean gallery. Here, among the aging bottles, visitors discover curated works from Ruinart’s impressive collection, which includes more than 100 pieces from dozens of artists.
Today, Ruinart’s spirit of innovation continues through the maison’s active engagement with contemporary art, including running an artist residency program and partnerships with global art fairs like TEFAF, Art Basel and Frieze. The residency has already yielded remarkable sitespecific works throughout the property.
“This three-year metamorphosis celebrates tradition, innovation and our ongoing commitment to the arts,” says Ruinart’s president and CEO, Frédéric Dufour. Like the house’s finest vintages, Ruinart’s reimagined estate still guards the secrets of its limestone caves, but now the art of revelation extends far beyond the bottle.
Courtesy Ruinart/Mattieu Bonnevie, Chloé LeReste
An essential pilgrimage for wine and art lovers, Ruinart’s redesigned estate doubles as a contemporary art center with more than 100 works, including site-specific pieces made from vineyard materials. Pictured: Nils-Udo’s 2024 La Pierre (The Rock), hewn from local limestone.
UNTAMED
SPIRIT
As many focus on Scotland and Japan, Ireland’s most sophisticated expressions are rewriting the whiskey story
Courtesy The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.
The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.’s Emerald Isle—paired with a Celtic Fabergé egg housing a Zambian emerald—sold at auction for $2.7 million this year. It topped the 2023 record set by The Macallan 1926 as the most expensive whiskey sold at auction.
If there’s a special release of rare, aged whiskey with a five-figure price tag, collectors hardly bat an eye. Until recently, they’d look almost exclusively at Scottish or Japanese bottles for such distinction in price and quality. But now, Ireland—the homeland of distilled grain spirits—is orchestrating a return to glory, led by The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.’s Emerald Isle triple-distilled single malt, which commanded $2.7 million at auction earlier this year. The record-setting, seven-set release comes with a Fabergé Celtic Egg, a self-winding Fabergé Altruist timepiece and rare Cohiba Siglo VI Grand Reserva cigars—an indulgent package marrying Irish heritage with exceptional craftsmanship.
The watershed moment came after about a decade of cultivation of Irish whiskey in the premium market. Pioneering releases like Midleton Very Rare and Teeling’s Vintage Reserve have steadily elevated the category’s prestige, while Redbreast’s Dream Cask series has captured collectors’ imaginations. But The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. has pushed into unprecedented territory. Their inaugural release, The Devil’s Keep, set its own record in 2020 with a $60,000 auction debut—still the pinnacle for the category.
The alchemy lies in master blender Jay Bradley’s unconventional approach to aging. Beginning with a 29-year-old single malt, which had spent most
of its life maturing in ex-bourbon American oak, Bradley then sent the liquid on an unparalleled barrel-finishing odyssey. His whiskey spent time in Tawny port casks, a trilogy of distinct Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry vessels and virgin Hungarian oak with heavy char, before returning to PX sherry barrels for a final touch of magic.
But that’s only part of the story. “I developed new techniques for this whiskey, all in the service of flavor,” Bradley says. He added water early in the finishing process to allow the liquid to mingle for two years—avoiding the need for dilution at bottling. Then, he underfilled barrels to create a richer, more complex taste, maximizing oxidation. “Underfilling barrels is unheard of in the industry,” he says.
The whiskey reveals itself in waves: First, cream-coated berries yield to nutmeg and maple syrup, which dance across the palate. As the richness retreats, it leaves traces of rosemary and caramelized yam before unveiling bright pineapple notes dusted with cinnamon—a complexity that earned the bottle the World Whiskies Awards’ designation as Ireland’s finest single malt.
The latest edition of The Devil’s Keep is expected to debut at $15,000—though we could see higher valuations in secondary trading. For connoisseurs, the bottle symbolizes Ireland reclaiming the crown as whiskey’s rightful sovereign.
Courtesy The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.
HIDDEN COVE AT FIDDLER’S CREEK. Just 29 residences. And already, several are spoken for…as this will be the most exclusive enclave within Fiddler’s Creek, and perhaps all of Naples.
LAW
Hidden in Tuscany’s hills, a legendary design house turns creatives’ boldest visions into architectural poetry
Courtesy Edra
While other ateliers chase trends, Edra pursues impossibilities. When the furniture maker unveiled a 750,000 Swarovski crystal-encrusted iteration of its Francesco Binfaré-designed Flap sofa in the early aughts, it wasn’t merely a demonstration of opulence—it was another milestone in the Italian brand’s material evolution. The Diamond collection transformed Binfaré’s novel Flap design, with its nine parts reclining at six angles, reimagining the possibilities for what discerning collectors could expect from their interiors.
For Edra, furniture making is equal parts alchemy and artistry, operating more like a laboratory than a workshop. When conventional materials fail to meet the vision, they invent new ones. Their proprietary Gellyfoam, developed through seven years of research, responds to body heat like a living entity, forming each user. The material powers Edra’s essential suite of sofas, including their sought-after Standard. The shape-shifting sofa and other Edra vanguards
have earned pride of place at La Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, MoMA and other modern art bastions, validating the furnishings as functional art (and sound investments).
The brand’s genius lies in its collaborations with visionary designers, or ‘authors,’ often years before their rise to prominence. A then-rising Zaha Hadid collaborated on a set of trademark-sculptural sofas in 1988. A decade later, a fortuitous connection between Edra and Brazil’s avant-garde Fernando and Humberto Campana jolted the brothers’ meteoric rise, starting with the still-popular Vermelha armchair.
The enduring alliance has yielded several landmark pieces of design history—from the Favela chair, made of wooden slats nailed by hand in a random arrangement, to the sinuous Boa sofa, covered in velvet cut with a proprietary technique to reduce unwanted glare (nothing is overlooked). “We have extraordinary connections with the authors who collaborate with us,” says
Known mostly to the cognoscenti, Edra epitomizes functional art. Their Flap Diamond sofa, by Francesco Binfaré, features the company’s body-conforming Gellyfoam padding beneath 750,000 Swarovski crystals.
You’ve made a promise to yourself. The promise of a life well lived. Welcome to the all-new Park Place on Gulf Shore. An enclave of luxurious condominiums with beach and bay views in a coveted Moorings location. Just 15 exclusive residences will comprise this extraordinary community complete with 11 boat slips and lifts. Live a life that’s beyond compare at Park Place on Gulf Shore. Now accepting appointments and contracts. Pre-construction pricing from the mid $7Ms.
Edra’s
partnerships with provocateurs like Zaha Hadid, the Campana brothers and Jacopo Foggini have defined its four-decade trajectory, yielding landmark pieces in design history.
In Jacopo Foggini’s Veronica Poltrona collection—part of Edra’s newer push into outdoor furnishings— each chair and table comprises a single weave of hand-molded polycarbonate. Made to resemble natural green glass, the pieces create an ethereal display of filtered light for Port Royal pool decks.
Niccolò Mazzei, Edra’s director of international development and part of the second generation at the helm. “These connections always begin with their original and profound ideas, to then be carried forward over the years and decades.”
Siblings Valerio and Monica Mazzei created Edra in 1987, recruiting four students from Milan’s iconoclast-grooming design school Domus Academy. They took their endeavor’s name from ‘exedra,’ the Greco-Roman curved seating niches where ancient society gathered. From the outset, the Mazzeis envisioned a workshop where centuries of Italian artistry evolved through radical experimentation sparked by a constant exchange of ideas.
In the Tuscan headquarters, furnishings emerge as narratives in fiber and fusion, drawing inspiration from nature. Binfaré’s On the Rocks sofa echoes the languid bliss of lounging on a rocky Puglia beach, and his Pack sofa recalls a polar bear resting on an ice floe. Edra’s first outdoor series, the A’mare collection by Jacopo Foggini, mimics crystalline waters. Crafted from weather-resistant
polycarbonate, the A’mare collection presents a brilliant paradox: pieces appearing hewn from arctic ice yet engineered for tropical resilience. These forms bring welcome visual lightness to sun-drenched Naples terraces.
While the furnishings double as installation art, function and quality underscore every creation. “Since the company was born, it is increasingly known and appreciated in the world because it offers absolute quality,” Mazzei says. Each piece emerges as a new classic, whether gracing museum collections or global events, like the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Edra collaborated on a hospitality venue for the Italian teams.
In the company’s showroom, within the storied chambers of Milan’s 17th-century Palazzo Durini, the brand stages its victories over physical limitations. The recently expanded space—a must-visit on any serious collector’s Grand Tour— displays each breakthrough like a gallery of the impossible made manifest. Here, beneath baroque ceilings, tomorrow’s classics await discovery.
Courtesy Edra
WILFREDO EMANUEL
“Everything
- Pablo Picasso
WRITTEN IN DIAMONDS
FOR 100 YEARS, MONTBLANC’S artisans HAVE CRAFTED PRECIOUS WRITING instruments THAT make EVEN A SIMPLE SIGNATURE FEEL LIKE AN INDULGENT occasion
Inside Montblanc’s Hamburg atelier, a master goldsmith peers through a loupe at what could be mistaken for a royal scepter: an 18-karat gold fountain pen destined to join the maison’s High Artistry collection. Each stroke of their engraving tool continues a tradition that began with the Meisterstück. The ‘masterpiece,’ which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024, established Montblanc as the world’s premier pen maker. For those who take pleasure in the ceremony of
correspondence and understand a handwritten note carries gravitas no email can match, the brand remains unrivaled.
While Meisterstück’s cigar shape and 18-karat gold nib remain iconic, the pen represents merely the foundation of Montblanc’s virtuosity. Since introducing its High Artistry collection in 2016, the brand has elevated the humble pen into an artform rivaling high jewelry. Their craftspeople, who train for decades in traditional métiers d’art,
Shaped like an Indian Mughal dagger, Montblanc’s Taj Mahal-inspired Tears of Moon pen is crowned with a 6.10-carat emerald, and a diamond feather nods to emperor Shah Jahan’s famed bejeweled peacock throne.
push the boundaries of customary techniques at microscopic scales. Consider the aesthetically harmonious Bohème Royal: crafted from solid 18-karat gold and set with 1,430 diamonds, each stone perfectly placed to maintain writing balance. At $1.5 million, it represents the pinnacle of the art.
For High Artistry, Montblanc draws inspiration from humanity’s greatest moments and monuments. A Celebration of the Taj Mahal required months of immersion into Mughal design before artisans began their work with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, while Egyptomania had an Egyptian hieroglyphics expert to ensure authenticity in the pens’ miniature renderings. Each design emerges from an octagonal ‘sarcophagus,’ awakened by a gem-set scarab opening mechanism.
The 2021 Tribute to the Great Wall showcases the atelier’s virtuosity through intricate stonesetting and cutting, hand engraving, lacquering, enameling, sculpting and even embroidery—all channeling Ming Dynasty art. The collection
culminates in a one-of-one, nearly $2 million masterpiece, crowned with a 4.69-carat diamond and concealing a mini music box in its cone.
New to the lineup, The World of Cinema crystallizes the maison’s legacy of inspiring writers and filmmakers. Six pieces embody iconic genres: Gold reels transform into clips, ruby slippers and cowboy spurs emerge as motifs while swaths of black gold and opal capture celestial scenes, and rhodium-plated skeletons bring comic book ‘POW’ and ‘BAM’ emblems to life.
At the recently opened Montblanc Haus museum—an immersive shrine to writing and creativity—in Hamburg, these masterpieces weave tales of ancient civilizations and modern craftsmanship. But perhaps most compelling is what’s not on display: In the workshop, artisans are already forging future masterworks in precious metals and gems, ensuring the art of writing transcends utility and retains its rightful place among luxury’s supreme expressions.
In the realm of impossible dreams, a stainless steel jaguar prowls the bow of Earth’s most extraordinary vessel, eternally hunting horizons.
Beyond the gigayacht’s sculptural might lies a deeper truth about modern luxury: It’s not about possessions but transformational experiences. Delivered this year to Naples part-time resident Shahid Khan, Kismet doesn’t just sail the high seas—she transcends them, turning each voyage into performance art. From her fierce feline figurehead to her TRON corridors and Versaillesinspired salon, every detail whispers of possibilities. She reminds us greatness isn’t measured in feet or millions but in moments of pure wonder. When imagination meets engineering at this scale, we glimpse something rare: the future, arriving in waves of steel and angular majesty.
